Jonathan Benefiel
- Producer
- Actor
- Writer
Born in Brooklyn, NY on April 17, 1963, Jon had an interesting, albeit unsettled, childhood. His mom, Victoria, (a Brooklyn native herself), was a go-go dancer, in the late-50's/early-60's, in Los Angeles, California; which is where she met his father, Roger--a struggling actor.
After a brief courtship, they married at the Little Church in the Valley, packed up their belongings, and moved back to Brooklyn, NY--where Jon's dad thought there would be better acting opportunities. After a brief marriage the couple called it quits and divorced in 1966. Jon would only see his father a handful of times throughout his childhood before his dad's untimely death in 1977.
In 1967, Victoria went on to meet the extraordinarily talented, semi-famous, lounge singer, Frank Vestry. The couple married in 1968. This pairing marked the beginning of Jon's love of all things entertainment related. Life was good for a while until the wee hours of one tragic morning on Good Friday, in 1973, when Jon awoke to the sound of his mom's cries as she feverishly tried to resuscitate Frank after he had suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 42. Jon took his stepfather's death very hard. The fact that this good-natured, fun-loving, and talented man suddenly had his life cut short was nearly impossible for Jon to process. From that moment on, the only lasting memory he could hold onto was an album Frank had recorded several years before his death, titled, "Meet Frank Vestry".
In 1986, at the age of 23, Jon was convinced by his mom to become an actor. Though painfully shy, he reluctantly decided to give it a try. In 1989, TV producer, Sonny Grasso gave him his first big break on the NBC TV Pilot, "True Blue". A year later, he had the opportunity to work as an extra on Martin Scorsese's "Goodfellas", which he eagerly took just to see the maestro in action. The location was the Copa Cabana club in NYC--a club Frank had performed at many times in the past. Jerry Vale was on stage lip-sinking to the song, "Pretend You Don't See Her". It was at that precise moment that Jon was struck by the idea to talk to Mr. Scorsese about the possibility of putting some of Frank's music on the film's soundtrack as a way of introducing Frank's voice to a wider audience. But the fear of getting kicked off set prevented him from doing so. Nearly 10 years would go by before inspiration would strike again, and the concept of a mafia soul-switch comedy, "The Mob Kid", was born. Jon thought this would be the perfect vehicle for his stepfather's music. It would take another five years before the first draft of the script was completed.
In 2006, Jon met his future wife, Gail Griffith, and decided to settle down and focus on family life.
In 2017, he decided to get back into the business and called on his longtime friend, and fellow actor, Eric Seltzer, to ask if he'd like to do a short film with him. Eric had always wanted to play the role of Lenny in Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men". So the two got together and came up with the concept for a modern re-imagination of Steinbeck's story, set to a mafia backdrop, titled "Protecting Tony". The film went on to win over 30 Awards and 5 Nominations and has earned Jon and Eric multiple acting awards in the process.
The process of putting all of the elements together to get that film made inspired Jon to produce more projects.
In 2018, he had the opportunity to be an Executive Producer on the Imagen Award-winning BTS documentary film, "John Leguizamo's Latin History for Morons: The Road to Broadway" because he immediately saw the social value of the project. The fact that most of the Hispanic people's contributions to our country, society and culture have been historically ignored really tugged at Jon's passion for social justice issues.
That same passion led to his role as Co-Executive Producer on Aaron Sorkin's, "The Trial of the Chicago 7". What drew Jon to the project were the uncanny similarities between the dangerous political climate of today and that which existed in the 60's. The important message of the film could be narrowed down to one quote from George Santayana in 1905--that "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it".
"The Trial of the Chicago 7" went on to win countless awards, including 5 Golden Globes, The Screen Actor's Guild Outstanding Performance By a Cast in a Motion Picture, and was nominated for 6 Academy Awards.
Jon then had the opportunity to be an Executive Producer on Mayim Bialik's, "As They Made Us", which is a story about family dysfunction and the scars that remain with children throughout adulthood. What drew Jon to the film was his own dysfunctional childhood and the scars he's had to deal with as an adult. "When audiences see a film they can relate to, it lets them know that they are not alone. This is why we share stories--not simply to entertain but to, hopefully, cultivate a feeling of empathy toward ourselves and our extended human family."
Jon's association with "As They Made Us" led to his partnership with Clay Epstein of Film Mode Entertainment to produce "The Mob Kid". The film is tentatively set to start filming in the fall, 2022.
After a brief courtship, they married at the Little Church in the Valley, packed up their belongings, and moved back to Brooklyn, NY--where Jon's dad thought there would be better acting opportunities. After a brief marriage the couple called it quits and divorced in 1966. Jon would only see his father a handful of times throughout his childhood before his dad's untimely death in 1977.
In 1967, Victoria went on to meet the extraordinarily talented, semi-famous, lounge singer, Frank Vestry. The couple married in 1968. This pairing marked the beginning of Jon's love of all things entertainment related. Life was good for a while until the wee hours of one tragic morning on Good Friday, in 1973, when Jon awoke to the sound of his mom's cries as she feverishly tried to resuscitate Frank after he had suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 42. Jon took his stepfather's death very hard. The fact that this good-natured, fun-loving, and talented man suddenly had his life cut short was nearly impossible for Jon to process. From that moment on, the only lasting memory he could hold onto was an album Frank had recorded several years before his death, titled, "Meet Frank Vestry".
In 1986, at the age of 23, Jon was convinced by his mom to become an actor. Though painfully shy, he reluctantly decided to give it a try. In 1989, TV producer, Sonny Grasso gave him his first big break on the NBC TV Pilot, "True Blue". A year later, he had the opportunity to work as an extra on Martin Scorsese's "Goodfellas", which he eagerly took just to see the maestro in action. The location was the Copa Cabana club in NYC--a club Frank had performed at many times in the past. Jerry Vale was on stage lip-sinking to the song, "Pretend You Don't See Her". It was at that precise moment that Jon was struck by the idea to talk to Mr. Scorsese about the possibility of putting some of Frank's music on the film's soundtrack as a way of introducing Frank's voice to a wider audience. But the fear of getting kicked off set prevented him from doing so. Nearly 10 years would go by before inspiration would strike again, and the concept of a mafia soul-switch comedy, "The Mob Kid", was born. Jon thought this would be the perfect vehicle for his stepfather's music. It would take another five years before the first draft of the script was completed.
In 2006, Jon met his future wife, Gail Griffith, and decided to settle down and focus on family life.
In 2017, he decided to get back into the business and called on his longtime friend, and fellow actor, Eric Seltzer, to ask if he'd like to do a short film with him. Eric had always wanted to play the role of Lenny in Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men". So the two got together and came up with the concept for a modern re-imagination of Steinbeck's story, set to a mafia backdrop, titled "Protecting Tony". The film went on to win over 30 Awards and 5 Nominations and has earned Jon and Eric multiple acting awards in the process.
The process of putting all of the elements together to get that film made inspired Jon to produce more projects.
In 2018, he had the opportunity to be an Executive Producer on the Imagen Award-winning BTS documentary film, "John Leguizamo's Latin History for Morons: The Road to Broadway" because he immediately saw the social value of the project. The fact that most of the Hispanic people's contributions to our country, society and culture have been historically ignored really tugged at Jon's passion for social justice issues.
That same passion led to his role as Co-Executive Producer on Aaron Sorkin's, "The Trial of the Chicago 7". What drew Jon to the project were the uncanny similarities between the dangerous political climate of today and that which existed in the 60's. The important message of the film could be narrowed down to one quote from George Santayana in 1905--that "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it".
"The Trial of the Chicago 7" went on to win countless awards, including 5 Golden Globes, The Screen Actor's Guild Outstanding Performance By a Cast in a Motion Picture, and was nominated for 6 Academy Awards.
Jon then had the opportunity to be an Executive Producer on Mayim Bialik's, "As They Made Us", which is a story about family dysfunction and the scars that remain with children throughout adulthood. What drew Jon to the film was his own dysfunctional childhood and the scars he's had to deal with as an adult. "When audiences see a film they can relate to, it lets them know that they are not alone. This is why we share stories--not simply to entertain but to, hopefully, cultivate a feeling of empathy toward ourselves and our extended human family."
Jon's association with "As They Made Us" led to his partnership with Clay Epstein of Film Mode Entertainment to produce "The Mob Kid". The film is tentatively set to start filming in the fall, 2022.
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